Domnall and his guard are gathered outside the settlement’s wall to see the adventurers off as the blaze of orange on the horizon begins to dispel the last vestiges of night. To Ella, the Baron offers a leather pack. ”You do what you do to ensure our preservation,”  he says solemnly, ”We cannot offer much to aid you. But perhaps what is there will prove useful.”

Accompanied by a trio of elven scouts, Trisvyre leads the company northward, the morning air crisp as the adventurers leave the foothills behind and begin the ascent into the Barrier Peaks. Soon, light fills a sky filled with a clumps of clouds that are the color of iron and the last hints of rich vegetation depart, replaced by soil that is hard packed, and tall stone formations that the party members feel certain have only been seen by a handful of courageous souls.

The air grows cold as morning yields to midday, the trail traveled by the scouts at times difficult to discern, if it could truly be called a pathway at all. Frost clings to many of the boulders and an occasionally fierce wind snakes through the narrow passes, its steady moan like that of a tormented ghost. The horses’ breath steams as the air grows thinner and in spots, the gathering must climb slowly, picking their way carefully over the unwelcoming terrain.

As the sun grows level with the jagged zeniths of the forbidding peaks, Trisvere leads the company into a circular canyon, the walls tall on all sides. Gesturing to the northern side of the ravine, she says simply, ”There.”



The massive stones that comprise much of the wall appear to have been disturbed by some mighty force, and amid the spaces between them, the adventurers can see hints of what appears to be a dull colored metal. At the base of the wall, a wide opening in the rocks reveals a massive steel door which is closed. Its surface is smooth and at first inspection, none of the company members can see any way that it can be opened.

”It has always remained closed. None of we elves have been able to move it. Not with force. Not with magic,” Trisvyre explains. Pointing to a steep slope of rock to the left of it, she adds, ”That is the only way inside.”

At the top of the slope, the party members can see an opening, the size of a tall human. Though surrounded by rock, the aperture itself is framed in steel. From where the company stands, they can see only darkness beyond.

Trisvyre swings down from her mount. “We must be cautious on the climb. There are plenty of footholds. Just remain mindful of your steps.”

As the party is making their final preparations to leave the Baron's Stronghold, Herodian seeks out Ella, Lumwik, and Salenth. With their permission, he uses a charred piece of oak to inscribe a series of runes on each arm beginning mid-bicep and extending down to the back of their hands. He chants softly as he works and when the final rune is completed they each feel a surge of strength.

When they reach the ravine, he removes the tack from his horse and does his best to conceal in the underbrush. If the animal is threatened by anything and is forced to flee he wants her to be able to run without the risk of a leather strap catching on tree or bush and slowing her down. When he is finished, he checks to make sure his pack is well balanced and strapped securely to his back and around his chest. Then, he faces the sunset and offers thanks to Boccob for blessing him with his gifts and asking for wit to use them to their best advantage. Finally, ready to climb, he takes his place in the formation.

---

OOC:
00:26, Today: Herodian rolled 5 using 1d6+1.  Strength for Ella.
00:26, Today: Herodian rolled 7 using 1d6+1.  Strength for Lumwik.
00:27, Today: Herodian rolled 2 using 1d6.  Strength for Salenth.

For 54 turns, Ella has a +5 bonus to strength, Limwik has a +7 bonus to strength, and Salenth has a +2 bonus to strength. Herodian will repeat this ritual every morning unless something happens that prevents him from doing so. I will roll for and post the bonus each of you receives in my first post of each new in-game day.

Lumwik thanks Herodian.  As they gaze at the cliffs, he looks at the craftmanship in appreciation.  "All the beasties come from that wee hole?" he says to no one in particular.

He prepares himself for the climb up to the portal.

Ella thanked the baron profusely for the supplies, assuring him that any aid he could provide would be greatly appreciated in the trials ahead.

Along the journey, she takes stock of the supplies and considers how they should be distributed among the group. She doesn't quite act completely unilaterally, but if no one else objects, she hands the healing potions to Lumwick, Salenth, and Herodian, explaining that they should probably be saved for emergencies, such as the healers being being badly injured and needing outside aid rather than their own magic to recover. She passes the magic user scrolls to the nearest mage, probably Herodian, and suggests that he might have a better sense of what to do with them than she does. She hands the potion of invisibility to Ranzarth, suggesting that it might be loaned to someone if he needs aid in a scout type situation or for himself in a serious emergency.

Upon arriving, she looks up at the metal and stone formation and lets out a low whistle. "I don't know if that was made by engineers, wizards, or both, but I've never seen anything like it before. It can't have been easy to do. Whoever made this... the gods only know what else they might be able to do. By the flames, there could be anything inside."

Cal casts Strength on himself just before the group gets underway for the day. He makes a mental note to start preparing two such spells each day to extend the coverage. These were likely to be long days.

When they stop in the canyon, he dismounts and takes similar precautions as Herodian.

He finds himself agreeing with Lumwik's sentiment regarding the small hole. Perhaps there was another, larger entrance somewhere else. He asks Trisvyre, "How far have you explored? Is it possible there is another, larger entrance?"

As he readies his pack for the spelunking, he turns to the dwarves, "Have you ever seen such wondrous combination of stone and metal construction?"

Herodian accepts the scrolls from Ella and he gives the scroll containing the web spell to Azad, and the other one to Ranzarth.

"A gift from the Baron. Perhaps there will be time this evening to add them to your spellbooks," he says.

“It doesn’t look like such a wonderous combination of stone and metal to me,” he remarks as he checks to make sure his boots are securely fastened.  “I’ve seen goblin work that was more sophisticated.”
This message was last edited by the player at 22:24, Fri 23 Aug 2019.

Lumick declines the potion, with gratitude.  "Give it ta someone more fragile."  He says, "I'll be fine."

ooc: Lumwik has over 100 HP and a ring of regeneration.  I didn't want to hog all the clerics cure spells.

"That's why you need to carry it." Ella smiles to Lumwick. "If someone fragile gets hurt, I can heal them. If I get hurt, I need someone tough as nails carrying a healing potion on hand to get me back on my feet."

The dwarf grunts in understanding.
 "I can carry it fer ya.".

At the start of the day, Salenth allowed Herodian to cast his magic on her bicep and when the prayer was complete, Salenth felt mentally and physically strong. "Thank you Herodian," Salenth said.

Then, the trek to the ravine began. By the time they reached the top of the slope, Salenth was panting from the exertion of the climb. She sucked in a needful breath of cool, fresh air and a minute later, her breathing evened out. The cleric of St. Cuthbert then joined the rest in overlooking the strange steel cave up ahead.

Salenth was no builder, metalworker or masonworker, but whatever they was in the ravine sure looked like nothing she had seen before. Then, Ella came to her and handed her a potion, the priestess smiled and nodded at the woman, "My thanks. I'll put this to good use."

While she keeps the potion in her backpack, Salenth said, "If that's the only way in or out, we should keep an eye out for traps or an ambush. Whoever or whatever is in there might be prepared for us."

“That’s a safe bet,” Wandreck says.  “We should expect hell’s own welcome... unless the idea is to lure us in.  If so, they might make it easy for us at first.  So on one hand, let’s watch it; on the other, let’s not get overconfident if we succeed initially.” He had known plenty of adventurers who had died making both mistakes.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:28, Sat 24 Aug 2019.

Azad looks up at the unusual structure, scratching his chin, deep in thought. Finally he says, "This reminds me of some references I found to some very odd -- and ancient -- devices. Some of the least outlandish include the Apparatus of Kwalish; resembles a barrel made of steel on the outside, but inside it is an array of levers and knobs and other controls. These controls can make it sprout legs, looking not unlike a giant crab, or walk around.

"Then there's the Machine of Lum the Mad. Absolutely massive contraption, the size of a large carriage but made of strange metals and unknown crystal. Totally covered with levers to pull and knobs to twist and switches to flip. Reports say things... happen... to anyone inside the box when certain controls are moved, but what lever does what is anyone's guess.

"Or Heward's Mystical Organ, a truly complicated musical instrument last described in The Fables of Burdock. Plays like a harpsichord, but makes sound by blowing air through tall brass pipes. Certain combinations of pedals and stops, with the right tune, can supposedly create magical effects or summon beings from the various planes. But playing it willy-nilly can undo critical spells or call in unsavory things. Best left undiscovered.

"Point I'm making is: This looks like something from one of those legends. From a long-forgotten time, or a place not of this ken. Experimenting with anything unusual might carry great risk -- but might also be necessary to end the threat to the region."

Trisvyre loosens her sword in its scabbard. "We suspect that they actually emerged from that larger entrance, the one with the steel door," she says in response to Lumwik's comment, "but even when we have kept watch, none of we scouts have seen it open. We've begun to believe that something within knows when we are near."

Addressing Sir Cal, she replies,  "Istivin, Earl of Sterich, was kind enough to lend us the services of some the mountain dwarf warriors in his service. No shift in stone escapes their notice. We, and they, ventured into the mountains north of this canyon, but we could find no other entrance to this place. As best we know, these openings are the only ways inside."

“It would be wonderful to send someone in ahead of us.  Do you have any condemned prisoners you can spare?”

In his experience, a sense of humor was as indispensable to the serious adventurer as iron rations.

"Well," Herodian says looking up at the sun, "It will be dark soon. We need to either get moving or make camp here and wait until morning. If anyone is watching they're bound to have seen us already, and I'd rather not be caught partway up when the light goes."

Harkmur walks slowly towards the strange, door-like structure.  A door was just a door but the stone blocking it could tell him much.  As the others mulled their options, he casually looked this way and that, under, around and every which way he could looking for signs of aging and weathering, attempting to discern how recent the blockage had occurred.

Finishing his investigation, he slowly returns to his mount and begins unpacking the remainder of his gear.  As he begins adding new items, he groans and shifts himself around, trying to distribute the additional weight.  Finally satisfied with placement, he trudges toward the group and gazes upward at the aforementioned opening.

"I say we get up this evening.  Daylight won't matter much if we're inside anyway and we're going to need a place to camp.  A cave opening high up a rock face is certainly more secure then down here in the open."

"Good point. Whatever is inside isn't exactly going to have a hard time finding us, so in the mouth of the cave won't be more dangerous than out here as far as that goes. And we already know they're aggressive, so it's not like we have to worry that stepping past the threshold will set them off." Ella chuckled slightly at that, dismounting as well. "Any objections?"